TREATMENT FUNCTION, rather than the Royal College or Faculty specialty, is required on most activity returns and in the Commissioning Data Sets (CDS). It is based on specialty, but also includes approved sub-specialties and treatment specialties used by lead CARE PROFESSIONALS including hospital CONSULTANTS.

The appropriate TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE can be used by any lead CARE PROFESSIONAL eg Intermediate Care as the TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE for a Nursing Episode.

A full list of TREATMENT FUNCTION CODES (Table 2) follows the MAIN SPECIALTY CODES (Table 1).

MAIN SPECIALTY CODES are aligned with the specialties recognised in the General and Specialist Medical Practice (Education, Training and Qualifications) Order 2003 and European Primary and Specialist Dental Qualifications Regulations 1998. Pseudo codes should be used in Commissioning Data Set (CDS) messages for lead CARE PROFESSIONALS other than hospital CONSULTANTS eg Nursing Episode.

For further information, contact The NHS Information Centre for health and social care by email at: enquiries@ic.nhs.uk.

Table 1 Main Specialty codes

Table 2 Treatment Function codes

Notes:

• TREATMENT FUNCTION CODES should be used for all aggregate Central Returns unless otherwise stated eg National Workforce Data Set uses MAIN SPECIALTY CODES
• GENERAL MEDICAL PRACTITIONER, NURSE and Allied Health Professional/ Biomedical Scientist/ Clinical Scientist ACTIVITY should be recorded against the TREATMENT FUNCTION under which the PATIENT is treated
• Joint Consultant Clinic ACTIVITY should be recorded against the TREATMENT FUNCTION which best describes the specialised service

A unique code identifying each MAIN SPECIALTY designated by Royal Colleges. This is the same as the OCCUPATION CODES describing specialties.

See Main Specialty and Treatment Function Codes for the full list of valid codes.

Specialties are divisions of clinical work which may be defined by body systems (dermatology), age (paediatrics), clinical technology (nuclear medicine), clinical function (rheumatology), group of diseases (oncology) or combinations of these factors. Only Specialty titles recognised by the Royal Colleges and Faculties should be used. This list is maintained by the General and Specialist Medical Practice (Education, Training and Qualifications) Order 2003 and European Primary and Specialist Dental Qualifications Regulations 1998.

Each CONSULTANT should be assigned a MAIN SPECIALTY by the ORGANISATION to which the CONSULTANT is contracted. For physicians and surgeons with a generalist component to their work, the MAIN SPECIALTY should be general medicine or general surgery. The hallmark of a general physician or general surgeon is the continued care of unselected emergency referrals. The MAIN SPECIALTY is specific to a Health Care Provider. If, for example, a CONSULTANT physician working in two Health Care Providers has a generalist component to the work in one and not the other, general medicine is only assigned as the MAIN SPECIALTY in the former case. CONSULTANTS in general medicine or general surgery may also have specialist interests and these should be recorded as well as the MAIN SPECIALTY.

The initial source of the information should be the designation on the CONSULTANT's contract. This should be checked periodically against the work a CONSULTANT is actually doing so that the statistics can relate to a CONSULTANT's current type of work.

The MAIN SPECIALTY only should be used for the purpose of producing Specialty costing statistics and for Workforce statistics where links with ACTIVITY and finance are required. Other specialist interests of CONSULTANTS may be recorded for workforce planning purposes.

This will be used to indicate the skill level of medical and dental employees.

National Codes:

A unique identifier for a TREATMENT FUNCTION.

The appropriate TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE should be used to record activity undertaken, irrespective of the type of Healthcare Professional who performs it, even where the name of the TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE suggests it is limited for use by a particular Healthcare Profession.

The appropriate TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE can be used by any lead CARE PROFESSIONAL e.g. Intermediate Care as the ACTIVITY TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE for a Nursing Episode.

For further information, contact The NHS Information Centre for health and social care by email at: enquiries@ic.nhs.uk.

National Codes:

Notes:

• TREATMENT FUNCTION CODES should be used for all aggregate Central Returns unless otherwise stated e.g. National Workforce Data Set uses MAIN SPECIALTY CODES
• GENERAL MEDICAL PRACTITIONER, NURSE and Allied Health Professional/ Biomedical Scientist/ Clinical Scientist ACTIVITY should be recorded against the TREATMENT FUNCTION under which the PATIENT is treated
• Joint Consultant Clinic ACTIVITY should be recorded against the TREATMENT FUNCTION which best describes the specialised service

This item is being used for development purposes and has not yet been assured by the Information Standards Board for Health and Social Care.

Notes:
This is the TREATMENT FUNCTION under which the PATIENT is treated. It may be the same as the MAIN SPECIALTY CODE or a different TREATMENT FUNCTION which will be the CARE PROFESSIONAL's treatment interest. See Main Specialty and Treatment Function Codes for the full list of valid codes.

Midwife Episodes and Nursing Episodes may use any appropriate ACTIVITY TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE. The pseudo consultant specialty code of 950 for nurses must only be used for CARE PROFESSIONAL MAIN SPECIALTY CODE see Main Specialty and Treatment Function Codes. The code 560 Midwife Episode can be used both as a Main Specialty and a Treatment Function.Midwife Episodes and Nursing Episodes may use any appropriate ACTIVITY TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE.

• The pseudo CONSULTANT MAIN SPECIALTY CODE of 950 'Nursing Episode' (for NURSES) must only be used for CARE PROFESSIONAL MAIN SPECIALTY CODE, see MAIN SPECIALTY CODE.
• The MAIN SPECIALTY CODE 560 'Midwife Episode' can be used both as a MAIN SPECIALTY and a TREATMENT FUNCTION.

The default codes 199 and 499 are only applicable for overseas health care providers.

ACTIVITY TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE replaces TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE, and should be used for all new and developing data sets and for XML messages.ACTIVITY TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE replaces TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE, and should be used for all new and developing data sets and for XML messages.

Midwife Episode is an ACTIVITY GROUP where ACTIVITY GROUP TYPE is National Code 24 'Midwife Episode'.

Nursing Episode is an ACTIVITY GROUP where ACTIVITY GROUP TYPE is National Code 26 'Nursing Episode'.

This item is being used for development purposes and has not yet been assured by the Information Standards Board for Health and Social Care.

Notes:
CARE PROFESSIONAL MAIN SPECIALTY CODE is the same as attribute MAIN SPECIALTY CODE.

It is the specialty in which the CONSULTANT is contracted or recognised. MAIN SPECIALTY classifies clinical work divisions more precisely for a limited number of specialties.

All Non-Consultant Led Activity is identified in the Admitted Patient Care Commissioning Data Set and Hospital Episode Statistics by a pseudo CARE PROFESSIONAL MAIN SPECIALTY CODE of 560 for MIDWIVES, 950 for NURSES and 960 for Allied Health Professionals.

The default codes 199 and 499 are only applicable for overseas providers.

CARE PROFESSIONAL MAIN SPECIALTY CODE replaces MAIN SPECIALTY CODE and should be used for all new and developing data sets and for XML messages.

Notes:
MAIN SPECIALTY CODE is the same as attribute MAIN SPECIALTY CODE.

It is the specialty in which the CONSULTANT is contracted or recognised. MAIN SPECIALTY classifies clinical work divisions more precisely for a limited number of specialties.

All Non-Consultant Led Activity is identified in the Admitted Patient Care Commissioning Data Set and Hospital Episode Statistics by a pseudo MAIN SPECIALTY CODE of 560 for MIDWIVES, 950 for NURSES and 960 for Allied Health Professionals.

The default codes 199 and 499 are only applicable for overseas providers.

MAIN SPECIALTY CODE will be replaced with CARE PROFESSIONAL MAIN SPECIALTY CODE, which should be used for all new and developing data sets and for XML messages.

Attribute:

Notes:
This is the MAIN SPECIALTY CODE of the Mental Health Responsible Clinician for the PATIENT within the REPORTING PERIOD. If there is more than one during the REPORTING PERIOD, this will be the last or final one of REPORTING PERIOD.

If the Mental Health Responsible Clinician is the PATIENT's GENERAL MEDICAL PRACTITIONER, the code will be 600. If the Mental Health Responsible Clinician is a CONSULTANT, it will typically be one of the adult or elderly mental health MAIN SPECIALTIES, although it may be either a learning disability or child and adolescent psychiatry in certain circumstances. When the Mental Health Responsible Clinician is not a CONSULTANT, this should be the appropriate pseudo-specialty code or left blank.

The allowable values are listed below:

National Codes:

Notes:
This is the TREATMENT FUNCTION under which the PATIENT is treated. It may be the same as the MAIN SPECIALTY CODE or a different TREATMENT FUNCTION which will be the CARE PROFESSIONAL's treatment interest. See Main Specialty and Treatment Function Codes for the full list of valid codes.

Midwife Episodes and Nursing Episodes may use any appropriate TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE . The pseudo consultant specialty code of 950 for nurses must only be used for MAIN SPECIALTY CODE see Main Specialty and Treatment Function Codes. The code 560 Midwife Episode can be used both as a Main Specialty and a Treatment Function. The pseudo CONSULTANT MAIN SPECIALTY CODE of 950 for nurses must only be used for MAIN SPECIALTY CODE. The code 560 Midwife Episode can be used both as a MAIN SPECIALTY and a TREATMENT FUNCTION.

The default codes 199 and 499 are only applicable for overseas health care providers.

TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE will be replaced with ACTIVITY TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE, which should be used for all new and developing data sets and for XML messages.

Midwife Episode is an ACTIVITY GROUP where ACTIVITY GROUP TYPE is National Code 24 'Midwife Episode'.

Nursing Episode is an ACTIVITY GROUP where ACTIVITY GROUP TYPE is National Code 26 'Nursing Episode'.

Notes:
This is the TREATMENT FUNCTION under which the PATIENT is to be treated or has been treated for the REFERRAL TO TREATMENT PERIOD. It may be the same as the MAIN SPECIALTY CODE of the CONSULTANT. It may be the same as the MAIN SPECIALTY CODE of the CONSULTANT.

The valid codes for a REFERRAL TO TREATMENT PERIOD are:

National Codes: